MLB News

Reds walk off on Hamilton's double

By
Mark Sheldon and Adam BerryMLB.com

CINCINNATI -- Billy Hamilton has struggled the first month for the Reds from the leadoff spot and has been looking for a way out of his rut. He made some pre-game adjustments on Monday, and the results came at a very clutch moment: Hamilton's RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Reds a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Pirates.

Tucker Barnhart drew a one-out walk in the 10th from Daniel Hudson and with pinch-runner Arismendy Alcantara on first base, an errant pickoff throw put him into scoring position. On a 2-2 pitch from Hudson, Hamilton -- who was 4-for-23 on the previous road trip and batting .213 entering the night -- pulled his game-ending hit into short right field over first baseman Josh Bell's head. Alcantara scored easily, standing up.

CINCINNATI -- Billy Hamilton has struggled the first month for the Reds from the leadoff spot and has been looking for a way out of his rut. He made some pre-game adjustments on Monday, and the results came at a very clutch moment: Hamilton's RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Reds a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Pirates.

Tucker Barnhart drew a one-out walk in the 10th from Daniel Hudson and with pinch-runner Arismendy Alcantara on first base, an errant pickoff throw put him into scoring position. On a 2-2 pitch from Hudson, Hamilton -- who was 4-for-23 on the previous road trip and batting .213 entering the night -- pulled his game-ending hit into short right field over first baseman Josh Bell's head. Alcantara scored easily, standing up.

On the advice of assistant hitting coach Tony Jaramillo Jr., Hamilton squared his batting stance to be less open.

"Definitely, you've got to build on stuff like that," Hamilton said. "Especially when I'm not hitting the way I want to hit. The last road trip was to the point where my confidence went down a little bit. Today, I got in the cage and felt something click."

Michael Lorenzen pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts for the victory.

Cincinnati had a 3-2 lead with two outs in the top of the eighth when Josh Harrison slugged a game-tying solo homer to left field on a 2-2 slider from reliever Drew Storen. Harrison's first homer of the night -- which led off the sixth inning against Reds starter Amir Garrett -- gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead on two hits.

In the bottom of the sixth against Pirates starter Gerrit Cole, Adam Duvall's three-run homer to left field propelled the Reds into a one-run lead. Cole was aiming to throw Duvall a slider, down and away, but it stayed up enough for Duvall to hit it a projected 403 feet.

"It got 50 percent of the way there -- got it to the corner," Cole said. "I'm not surprised when fly balls don't come back here."

And just like that, Cole went from being in position to win to remaining winless in his career vs. Cincinnati. The right-hander, who allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits over six innings with one walk and seven strikeouts, is 0-6 with a 5.14 ERA in nine career starts against the Reds.

Garrett, coming off a poor outing at Milwaukee in which he lasted 3 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs, bounced back in a big way. The Reds rookie left-hander gave up two earned runs and two hits -- both on solo home runs -- with three walks and four strikeouts.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDHometown Harrison: A Cincinnati native, Harrison enjoyed the first multi-homer game of his career and the Pirates' first multi-homer performance of the season. His second shot came after Storen went to an 0-2 count against him and couldn't get out of the inning. Entering the night, Storen had a 0.75 ERA in his previous 11 appearances.

"It's always nice to be back home," Harrison said. "Get to sleep in your own bed, see some family and friends and get to do what I love." More >

Hudson's costly E1: With Devin Mesoraco pinch-hitting and a speedy Alcantara on first base running for Barnhart, Hudson made four pickoff throw attempts before his fifth try got past Bell and bounced into foul territory. It put the go-ahead run into scoring position for Hamilton.

"As a hitter, I don't hit too many balls deep. It's going to be tough for me to score them from first base," Hamilton said. "When you get him on second base, it makes it easier for a hitter to hit. … [Hudson is] not quick but in that situation, he's going to try to be quick with [Alcantara] over there. Alcantara got enough of a lead for the guy to keep picking over and made him make a bad throw to get into scoring position for me to have a chance to do it."

QUOTABLE"It's always sitting there pending. No one's going to be great every day, but the threat of an extra-base hit, a three-run homer, a solo shot to tie the game late, he never seems like he's in a situation that's too big for him to handle. -- Reds manager Bryan Price, on Duvall's home run. Duvall has five homers and 13 RBIs over his last 11 games.

"It comes down to execution at the end of the day at this level and every other level you play at. When you don't execute, you put yourself at the mercy of the game. We had a couple opportunities to execute better tonight." -- Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, on two key errors: Phil Gosselin's sixth-inning error before Duvall's homer and Hudson's errant pickoff throw

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDSAndrew McCutchen, who homered in the first inning, has hit 17 of his 27 career homers against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. McCutchen's 17 homers as a visiting player at this ballpark rank fifth all-time behind Lance Berkman (23), Ryan Braun (22), Albert Pujols (20) and Aramis Ramirez (18).

UPON FURTHER REVIEWIn the bottom of the first inning, Hamilton was called out trying to steal third base. But after the Reds challenged the call, a review by replay officials determined that Hamilton's hand touched the base before he was tagged and it was overturned. It was the 23rd time since the start of 2016 that Hamilton stole third base, which is most in the Majors.

WHAT'S NEXTPirates: Top prospect Tyler Glasnow, coming off another short start, will start for the Pirates as they continue their four-game series against the Reds on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Great American Ball Park. The Reds beat up on Glasnow in his season debut, as he walked five and recorded only five outs at PNC Park.

Reds:Scott Feldman will get the start for Cincinnati. It will be Feldman's first start vs. the Pirates since June 24, 2010, when he was with the Rangers. He has a 7.04 ERA in two career games against them .